Website Evaluations

Elementary School - http://www.uinta1.k12.wy.us/AspenElem.cfm?subpage=95897
I evaluated this site using the Kathy Schrock's Guide. It was organized very well, easy to navigate with a table of contents, it has a few pictures of the students and teachers, it has an intro page, it does not have a ton of information, but it has the basics. The author is the school board, and it was last updated, yesterday. It is an accredited website, pretty much just some basic information, for parents.

Lesson Ideas - http://teachers.net/lessons/
I evaluated this site using the PDF found at this site: http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/tutorial/WWW.eval.html. With the scoring system, the website scored 13 out of 20 on the navigation, 15 out of 16 on the content, 8 out of 8 on appropriateness, and 10 out of 12 on the scope & validity. This means the website scored a 46 out of 56, which according to the the scale on the evaluation this website fair, or not so hot.

Informational web site - http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Animals/CreatureFeature/Lion
I evaluated this site using the form found at http://www.bv229.k12.ks.us/bvn_lmc/web_site_evaluation_form2.html. For the first section of the evaluation the website was voted A Parents' Choice Recommended Winner for 2008. I would say this is pretty good evidence of creditability, but it wants to know about the authority. It was written by National Geographic, and I went into the site specifically designed for kids. The next section is objectivity. This website is obviously meant to inform, this web page is mean to inform about lions, it's not biased, and the information is very clear, meant to a young audience. The next section is accuracy. All the information is accompanied by real pictures, and the scientist that researched each topic. The last section is currency. The site was created in 1996, and was lasted updated in 2009. The last question asks me to rate the website, I would give it a 5 - Great.

Interactive Website - http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/interact-math.html
The evaluation form I used was found at http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/tnl/detectives/eval_form.html. The form is organized in who, what, when, where, & how. WHO - It is published by the Jefferson County School District, and you can contact them by phone or e-mail. WHAT - It is no biased and it covers all the subjects in explicit detail. WHERE - it is a .net web site. WHEN - It was created in 2007 and it was updated in 2009. HOW - The page is very well organized into subjects, then into categories. Last WHY - The information is targeted for elementary students and is a good place for interactive games, better than a book. I would say this is an excellent website.

Overall Questions:
a. I liked the form from http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/tnl/detectives/eval_form.html, because it's organized for the use of an elementary student, They understand the 5 W's, so this worksheet is self explanatory.

b. On some of the evaluations I was asked to find the author. Some of the websites are from a culmination of different teachers, so this means, according to the evaluations, that the website looses some of it's creditability. I don't think this should be the case, especially for teachers lesson plan websites.

c. The value in using a website evaluation tool is it makes you think about where you are getting your information and if it is really is reliable.

d. If I was doing a big project I would want to do website evaluations. For an informal google search on a random topic just for my own information I wouldn't bother with a website evaluation.